Salvation : Spinoff (dark trauma horror)
by harby
Summary: This is a new take based on a nice story ("Salvation", see link below) set in an alternate ME universe dominated by the Asari Empire, with all other races as slaves. So, cute little Liara of course buys herself a younger Shepard as a slave. Unfortunately,story was unfinished. Not anymore. Will Liara fail at being evil ?... Warning : I genred it as romance/horror, for a good reason.
1. Before Salvation

**Foreword**

This story is based on " _Salvation_ ", which you can read here.

archiveofourown dot org /works/387434/chapters/634868

(sorry for the url format, the editor here disallows links).

Alternately, **google : mass effect salvation archiveofourown**

" _Salvation_ " is a great story, very well written, which leverages Mass Effect universe and characters to examine a very difficult subject.

"In a universe under the gentle control of the Asari Empire, a chance meeting of two kindred spirits and their part in the salvation of the galaxy is simply fated to happen."

OK, no spoilers. Go read it now, it is worth it.

However, the author apparently abandoned it mid-story, leaving poor little Shepard in a dire situation with no closure in sight. Something had to be done. Honestly, it kept me up until 4AM until Mordin Solus volunteered to help.

* * *

This is my horror/trauma take on the story. It is horrible. Well, it talks about slavery, so that is kinda the point.

I made a nice/cute/fluffy version to compensate. Click on my pseudo.

 **Rated M** for extreme psychological horror and insanity. You been warned.

This is Version 2.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

These events happen before _Salvation_ , and concurrently to the first two paragraphs.

I suggest reading _Salvation_ first, then this chapter.

Shameless Retconning ? Not really. None of the characters in Salvation have heard about these events :

* * *

After completing an assignment on Thessia, Mordin Solus, STG, was aboard the Destiny Ascension, on his way to the Terminus systems.

While taking a shower in his private cabin, he mentally reviewed the emails he had just received.

 **« From : STG dispatch To : Operative Solus**

When asari will finish their war with humans, chances are high we will be next.

Attached documents are archived intercepts from human organization Cerberus, about operation Blue Horse. This operation aims to delay asari by forcing them to reallocate forces to secondary, real or imaginary threats. Might be interesting for us, or red herring.

By coincidence, Blue Horse is on same ship as you. If possible, investigate, but do not take any risks.

 **»**

* * *

 _Interesting species, humans. Resourceful, creative, eager. Dangerous._

 _Asari much more dangerous. Gentle in appearance only. Arrogant, superior._

He dried himself, put on his clothes, inspected his look in the mirror, exited the cabin, walked towards the elevator, and recalled the next message.

* * *

 **«** **Intercept**

 **From : [redacted], Cerberus Noveria, To : [redacted], Cerberus**

All attempts to link to the alien artifact caused brain death in test subjects. However, we were able to identify a brain wave pattern common across all subjects prior to death. Brain wave scan of all available personnel yielded several candidates with good correlation to alien wave pattern and acceptable probability of survival [~20%]

We believe the best quality of mental imprinting will be achieved with young subject.

We have a match. Waiting for orders.

 **»**

* * *

Solus sighed as the elevator was taking him up.

 _Cerberus... Always questionable ethics. Rogue science never stops._

* * *

 **«** **Intercept [reply to previous]**

Any agent aware of Operation Blue Horse or subject identity must self-terminate if caught. Identity of subject and payload MUST remain under absolute secrecy. Subject must be unaware. Everything must happen « accidentally ».

Artifact and subject must survive. Other losses are acceptable. Death of subject's friends or relatives will strengthen mental imprinting by tying it to emotional response.

Operation Blue Horse is go. Good luck.

 **»**

* * *

He exited the elevator and walked towards the mess hall. Feeling a bit hungry, he picked up a fruit from one of the vending machines. As he entered the hall, his eyes quickly scanned the asari faces. He immediately recognized her, finishing her meal, alone, seemingly lost in thoughts.

* * *

 **«** **Intercept**

 **From : Shadow Broker, To : [redacted], Cerberus**

As requested :

Located ideal asari target : Liara T'Soni.

Young, gullible, inexperienced, often overconfident yet insecure, high interest in Protheans, and head of a powerful house due to a runaway mother. Domination fantasies. Virgin. Unusually kind for her species. A real high value, low hanging fruit.

We arranged for her presence on Destiny Ascension by attracting her to Therum dig site as you requested.

Payment as usual.

 **»**

* * *

He walked past her. A few seconds studying her manners and looks confirmed the Broker's psychological profile.

 _Young test subject. Mental imprint. Prothean beacon. Asari target. Payload is a mind bomb, hidden inside an unsuspecting child. Perfect agent. Information in Beacon must be really worth the risk..._

 _Sorry for you, T'Soni, you are by far not the worst Asari out there, perhaps even one of the best, and that's why you are the ideal target. I wish you survive this and make your kind less annoying. Good luck._

Solus cursed politics and wars, as he headed for the brig.

* * *

 **«** **Intercept**

 **From : Blue Deep, To : Cerberus**

Orders received. Will make sure T'Soni is aware of prisoner and meets her. Payment as usual.

 **»**

* * *

 _Last message._

He saluted the guard, pretended to "check on slave's health, important for resale price", and looked at the redheaded girl through the cell door grille.

 _Poor girl. Suffering and misery are shared equally among species... except damn asari, always so arrogant. Gentle as they crush you._

 _If message intercepts are true, she has a Prothean beacon inside her mind. Amazing._ _Maybe buy her ? Get her out of this ? Experiment on her ? No. She suffered enough. Could save her, make her a lab assistant... set her free._ _But what if Cerberus was right and her mission succeeds ? Let T'Soni buying her as slave. Make sure beacon fires up T'Soni's brain._

Mordin Solus turned from the door, nodded to the guard and walked. He met T'Soni in the stairway, bumped into her, politely excused himself, and started conversation.

She was an inexperienced archeologist. He was highly trained STG. Ten seconds later, she had confirmed everything he already knew.

He seemed to think for a while, then handed her the fruit he'd had intended as a snack.

"Sanalas. Tastes good for human and asari, nice conversation starter for scared prisoner. Myself, not hungry."

He left.

 _Fourth time today I feel the urge to make a Genophage for them. Must resist._

 _._

* * *

 _A/N : Even in an alternate universe, it seems Shepard always has Prothean beacons in her head... and Cerberus' ethics never change.  
Also, I wanted Mordin to say hi. He could have done this mission from his desk, since he did nothing at all... but now he's attached to this poor kid, in a way._


	2. After Salvation

**Foreword**

This takes place after reading "Salvation".

The asari "gently" run the galaxy, Humans have been conquered, Liara owns young Shepard as her personal slave... All of this is of course, completely normal in this alternate universe. She apparently intends to turn her pet into some sort of sex slave, using melding as a "gentle" brainwashing tool.

"Gentle", like the asari mean it, of course.

I like _Salvation_ , because it leverages mass effect characters to make the reader think about themes like :  
\- How much of your freedom would you give up in exchange for material comfort ?  
\- Could someone actually find happiness in this situation, with a "gentle" master like Liara ? Or is it just nicely redecorated hell ?  
\- Could someone decide to change themselves in a way that makes it acceptable ? (ie, get broken in)  
\- Can the gap between master and slave be overcome ?  
\- Can a story that makes you feel horrible be a good story ?

In the good old slaver days, like Roman Empire... people probably thought about this. Asari being just a metaphor. The author of Salvation may actually get off on such things. Whether or not this changes the value of the work itself is open to interpretation.

Anyway. In the previous chapter, I lied. RETCON :

 _"Jane Shepard, By the Plot Gods, I hereby declare you old enough to appear naked in a Jacuzzi with Liara by the end of this chapter."_

If you want her to be 14 like in the original story, I suggest you go surrender yourself to the nearest police officer. Yes it would be more realistic. But, no.

Now, let's get Shepard out of this rose-tinted hell of psychological torture.

WARNING : It's going to get **a lot worse** before it gets better.

Fucked-up mode ENGAGE.

.

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Liara had acquired Shepard almost a year ago.

She planned to push Shepard up a notch after her birthday, towards more serious stuff, but she was taking her time. She really wanted to condition her. So, until now, besides commando training and personal assistant/maid work, their moments of leisure had been clothes-on, back rubs, foot massages...

Their daily sessions were getting progressively hotter. The Meld was amazing. It allowed her to learn very quickly how to please her Mistress. Liara adjusted the intensity. Too much, and Shepard got distracted by pleasure. Too little, and she didn't have enough reward. Liara kept Shepard always eager for more, by always refusing to give her the last bit.

Today was Shepard's 18th birthday. Liara had been very nice, wished her happy birthday, and even offered a gift. Shepard had pretended to love it, pretended to be very grateful and polite towards her Mistress, asked for permission to give her a hug...

Then Liara had left for work.

.

* * *

Shepard looks at herself in the bathroom mirror wearing her gift. A dress. It is fabulous. It makes _her_ look glorious. She feels the texture and quality of its fabric, how it hugs her own shape. Its colors and patterns match her complexion and hair. It makes Shepard shine. Liara really has excellent taste.

She thoroughly hates it. She _needs_ to rip it to shreds and burn it right _now_ , but of course that is _Forbidden_ , because she will _have to wear it to please her_.

She didn't get to choose it. Like everything else. Well, Liara let her choose her pajamas. Great.

Before anything happens to the dress, she strips, carefully folds it, puts it away on a shelf, and looks at herself naked in the mirror, trying to relax.

Shepard still has trouble believing that a year ago she was this awkward, shy, skinny, nerdy girl with "issues".

Nearly one year of daily asari commando training got rid of most of that. Now, she looks beautifully tough. Still a bit shy, though...

No more ugly ! She's proud of her body now...

 _Shit. Pride is Forbidden.  
And it is not your body, it is hers.  
Nothing belongs to you, not even yourself._

She catches the toilet bowl just in time so most of her vomit goes in.

Like every fucking day.

 _It is not working._

.

* * *

At first she could hold a few months. Then a month. Then a week. Now it was almost every day.

All morning she had cooked this delicious asari curry, stirring it, watching it boil. Liara had allowed her to eat with her, and it was great ! Then they had a nice back-rub, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

She throws up everything. Then she wipes it off her chin, flushes, drinks a bit of cold water, sits on the toilet, and as usual, reviews her dire situation.

 _It is not working._

 _She thinks of me more as a pet than as a person. A cute pet, which she likes a lot, which can work for her and please her, but still a pet. She is very kind, very gentle, like someone fond of animal rights. I am a fucking talking dog, with the same rights._

At all times, Shepard feels invisible walls around her, crushing her. There is no escape from her slave condition. Sometimes, she can forget about it, but only for a while.

 _She still hasn't noticed. Very ironic, considering we meld. She cares for me, but isn't interested enough in how I really feel to look deep into me, where I hide those feelings. I show her only what she wants. I'm getting really good at this._

Most surprisingly, Shepard still can't fault Liara. She was born and raised in asari culture, and that is the way they did things. Everything is absolutely normal to her. Liara is sincerely doing an honor to Shepard by taking her as a servant. Shepard understands this. She holds no grudge. That also hurts. It would be so much easier to hate her.

 _She's probably the gentlest asari around. I've seen what the others can do._

And there is the crazy fact that Shepard is madly in love with her. Her first true love... And Shepard loves to please her ! It is just the _way_ it is done that is absurdly wrong.

* * *

Liara could have said "please" instead of giving orders, and Shepard would have done everything she asked anyway. If she had asked for Shepard's permission before melding, she would not have refused. She never asked. Right now, Shepard would probably agree to be a slave about six days a week, if she could have a day off or something, but Liara was absolute.

Many boys or even adults had already tried to corner Shepard on spaceships, to grope her, to... rape her. Even her nerdy old self had good practice on the knee shot to the balls. No-one ever got her. She wanted her love to be different, beautiful. She wanted to give herself to Liara, but willingly. Not forcefully. And she wanted Liara to give back. That made all the difference in the world.

Something had broken in the fragile beginning of their relationship, and the gap was widening. It felt wrong. Liara's misguided attempts at conditioning would fail, most likely in blood, and she knew it.

Even for her young age, Shepard was extremely resourceful. Hell, she had survived a week on that ship before getting caught.

Shepard had spent months thinking about a plan, and this was the day. She reviewed her options one last time.

Running away : _Nope. There is a tracking chip my rib._  
Of course, implantation had been "gentle", painless, took a minute, and left no scar. _Gently tagged like cattle._

Killing Liara : _I love her, and this mess is not her fault. And of course, then, I get caught and euthanized._

Suicide : _Considering it..._

Doing nothing : _She'll find me out eventually. This will break her heart, and thus mine. God, I'm getting really fucked up. Then, it will be serious brainwashing, drugs, or sold at an auction, or death. Or worse, like losing Liara._

 _Shit. I really thought that. OK, option : going insane. Seems like I'm working on it._

 _Surrendering : I could tell her I need help, maybe some pills to make the pain go away... I would be a very happy pet in the end..._

 _The only way out is through, then._

She was legally a slave, so she couldn't do anything, except... follow asari commando philosophy. _Give everything you have, and win. Or die trying. Stick to the plan._


	3. It gets worse

**Chapter 3 : This is going to hurt.**

* * *

Shepard was giving Liara a slow back-rub. She enjoyed hearing her mistress' purrs in those moments... but this time, she was distracted. She had been thinking about this escape plan for months. There was no guarantee of success... it was, in fact, terrifying, but she had to attempt it before it was too late, and now was as good a moment as ever. She went over her fears, and made a quick prayer to a god she didn't believe in.

This felt wrong. She made a silent prayer to Liara instead.

Then, still rubbing her back, Shepard proposed : "Mistress, I remember when you showed me some of your memories. That was wonderful. I would really like to share one of mine with you. I believe you will find it interesting.".

Shepard told her that she felt it was one of the defining moments of her life, which was true. It also featured some old artefact, which got her even more interested. Liara took the bait.

 _I'm sorry. This is really going to hurt._

She stopped the backrubbing, and while still in her back, held her Mistress in her arms. She focused on this memory, and Liara helped her share.

.

* * *

Shepard is inside a Mako. The ride is horribly bumpy, as she watches her friends trying not to feel sick. Then suddenly, all goes quiet, as the vehicle lurches to a stop. They only hear the cold wind outside, and a swear from the driver.

Six trainees and a driver, going from one base to another in a mako, in the middle of nowhere, on Noveria.

"Engine is out", says the driver, his face like a ghost. He tries to restart, and fails. He tries again, the engine makes a sound that means "start countdown to freezing death". Then a heavy clunk, then nothing. No engine, no heating.

While they lose time trying to restart the engine, heavy blizzard builds up outside, lifting the snow and shaking the truck. Visibility reduces to about two feet. There will be no rescue. The chassis of the dead mako starts to freeze.

The driver pulls a virtual map on his omni-tool and sighs. "The old dig site ! It is not far, even miraculously close, we can walk there before the ice freezes the doors shut and this truck becomes a coffin !"

The trainees are terrified, but there is no other solution. They put on their helmets, check their armor suits, mark waypoints on their omni-tools. One hundred fifty meters to destination. They were lucky.

"I'm Mark, by the way", says the driver. "I will go first. Visibility is zero, so we will form a line, holding hands. Damn, we don't have a rope. Stay tight, okay ? Keep low to avoid being blown off by the wind. And do not lose the one behind you or in front of you ! If you get lost, use your omnitool maps, but stay together !"

"We can do this."

They all clump together inside the mako, Mark first at the door, the trainees behind him, each holding the arm of the one in front and behind. Frank is in front of Shepard, holding her left hand. Maya is behind, holding her right.

"Ready ?"

Six very scared voices seem to acknowledge, and Mark opens the door. He has to kick it several times, as it already has started freezing. Finally it opens, and the blizzard invades the mako, filling it with thick, opaque, white, biting cold death.

Everyone inside the truck is in panic, and they haven't put a foot outside yet. Death by hypothermia in... about five to ten minutes. Tick. Tick.

Liara's hand starts twitching. Shepard feels her panic, and holds her closer.

Mark puts his feet in the snow. The others follow, one step at a time. Shepard is in the middle of the group. The blizzard roars against her helmet. It is impossible to hear anything else, even her radio. Frank in front of her might be screaming, she wouldn't know.

Shepard tries to look at her omni-tool map. She can't even see her arm. She can't lift her arm close to her visor, because she holds Frank. All she sees is white wind pummeling her whole body.

 _I am going to die, here, slowly, and no-one will miss me._

Liara is shivering. Shepard clutches her. Liara manages to send a weak "I'm really glad you didn't die there..."

Then a marvelously warm feeling invades Shepard as she remembers...

 _Fuck ! Mark has a HUD inside his helmet ! He sees the map. Maybe we're not all going to die._

One foot in front of the other, and one more, while the wind tries to make them fall, to separate them. They go forward, held by nothing but trust and hope. If Frank loses the guy who holds Mark with the map in his HUD... goodbye. Walk in circles to your death.

Gusts of wind push her left, right, she falls to her knee, raises, and goes on. After an eternity, she no longer feels her feet or her hands, but somehow Frank, or whoever is in front, keeps pulling and she keeps going.

And then the blizzard falls down as she sees the single most beautiful thing anyone can wish for on Noveria : an airlock door with a green circle. As it opens, she cries. Frank pulls her inside.

The airlock closes, keeping the roar of the wind outside. She notices something wrong, brings forward a hand she does not feel. It is empty. Maya is gone. Her dear friend, for who she arranged a date the next day with... the guy who was behind her. Probably both dying outside right now. When did this happen ? Who let the other go ?

In a last effort, Mark kicks open the second airlock door, throws the surviving kids on the other side, follows, and slumps to the ground. This side is _heated_. Shepard is still crying, looking at her empty hand.

There is a shake, and Liara finally breaks the meld. They both open their eyes, breathing heavily like after depth diving, their skin glistening with cold sweat. Liara has already been in dire situations, held at gunpoint, but this... this...

They both notice they are crying. Long streaks of pale blue tears run down Liara's face. She looks as much a mess as Shepard, if not more. Shepard slumps her head forward on her shoulder, sobs "Maya" and stops moving. They hold for a while before being able to do anything.

Somewhere, a piece of Liara's superiority complex cracks. Shepard feels it.

Then Liara manages "This was... the memory ?".

"No... what I want you to see... comes after."

"Goddess. That was horrible."

"I have only one worse memory, you know."

"What could possibly be worse than that ?", Liara asks.

"It is very short. Just someone saying a sentence."

 _Liara wants to help me feel better. I want to get out of here alive._

She takes the bait.

Liara sees herself, in the Destiny Ascension brig cell, the day she met Shepard. And she hears herself saying : "Your friends were taken as well", along with the rest of her speech where she casually told Shepard how all her friends would become slaves.

Everything Shepard felt at this time is included, of course. She musters all the pain and sadness she can put on top of the worst memory of her life, and sends everything her way. Then she ends the memory and forces herself to think about nothing else than pure black and despair. Liara stays in the meld for a while, lost, then pops out.

That hits, hard. Another bit of Liara's superiority complex cracks. Then something very strange comes to pass. Shepard feels Liara is about to make an excuse, to say she is sorry, but the words stay stuck in her throat. They don't come out. Shepard's hope is lost. Even the nicest asari couldn't do it.

Neither realize that Liara crying, and showing herself as vulnerable in front of Shepard, is already much more than she could have hoped for. Most of them would have just left and have the slave punished for something like that. Liara stays.

Shepard hugs her tight, for a long time, until she seems ready for the next hit. Then she plays her last card, and says "The alien beacon."

"Alien you mean Prothean ?"

"I don't know where it comes from. I must show it to you."

The perspective of a Prothean Beacon gets Liara very interested. She needs to... first, wipe all those tears,

 _Goddess how could I cry so much in front of her ?... way to go, my first try at being an asari mistress... although well, those memories... get yourself together !_

She takes a few deep breaths, wipes the tears out, passes the handkerchief to Shepard who does the same, and... since Shepard hasn't moved yet... she is still in Shepard's arms.

This one is a big bet, because Shepard has no idea what actually is in this beacon memory. But she has to keep going while she has momentum.


	4. Before it gets better

**Chapter 4 : Before it gets better**

* * *

Shepard proposes "do you want to see this memory ?"

"Yes, please."

This last word gives Shepard shivers of pleasure. She focuses on her memory, and they resume their meld.

Shepard wakes up and breathes inside the cavern on Noveria. Her helmet is on the ground by her side. She feels cold melting snow trickling inside her collar and deeper inside her armor. She curls her toes and fingers : they survived the cold. Her remaining friends are there, pretty beaten up but alive. She checks on them.

She rises and starts to explore. Walking feels difficult, but she'll manage. Warmth seems to be coming from deeper inside the cavern. Warmth is life on Noveria. She tells her friends to follow, and she goes.

She reaches deeper inside the widening cavern, recognizes an autonomous eezo core heater, able to work on its own for months, and stands directly in front of it. This feels wonderful. She calls her friends, then removes the top of her armor to let it dry. As she turns around to heat her back side, she notices something in the center of the cavern.

Liara identifies it immediately. _A Prothean Beacon !_

A seam of green light snakes along its sides. Its controls seem unharmed. It looks like new.

 _"A fully intact Prothean beacon ?"_ Liara squeaks.

Inside the memory, Shepard lays her hand on the control panel. Cerberus staff had done their job. Her brain correlates with the Beacon. She lives.

The Soul Shard of Naril, First General of the Second Prothean Army, embeds itself into Shepard's own soul in a flash.

They witness his Prothean shape rise, thirsty for blood and roaring for vengeance, as he readies to lead the endless armies of the current cycle in the fierce battle against the new wave of Reaper extermination.

In front of Naril, stands Liara T'Soni, not yet Ph.D., overprotected virgin, killcount in the low twos or threes (only in self-defense), wannabe asari mistress, who originally came here for a back rub.

Naril's laugh is of the kind which crumbles mountains.

Until he understands his Soul Shard incarnated into the body of a human slave, Shepard, who is actually giving Liara a back rub.

Liara looks at Him in wonder and squeaks, blushing purple - "Are you p-p-p-prothean ?"

Naril is relieved. A teenage human form will suffice. This cycle is doomed anyway. He still does what he came here for, that is, warn them of the impending Reaper Harvest.

He shows them how it looked like in his cycle.

.

* * *

Shepard and Liara stand on a rocky ledge. In front of them lays a vast, proud Prothean city, its towers defying the skies.

Then they come. Enormous black starships with tentacles and pustular glowing eyes fall from orbit. Ground defense cannons fill the sky with beams of light, fighter aircraft swarm them, troops launch missiles at them, to no effect. They are unscathed.

They watch the entire city being ground into dust by red particle beams, its inhabitants exterminated. They fight to the death, and lose.

As a parting thought, Naril tells them "The Reapers are coming for you. Back-rubbing won't stop them."

Then, as Naril bursts into a spiteful laugh, the meld breaks in a violent spasm, Shepard's head is thrown backwards against the couch, and Liara headbutts the coffee table, falling unconscious.

.

* * *

Liara wakes up, takes a deep breath, and darts a few panicked looks around.

She is in the jacuzzi. Shepard is in front of her, her head reclined, relaxing, one foot against her butt so she doesn't slip and drown. The water is pleasantly warm and smells of … something that smells good.

 _Well, all the bath oils have labels written in asari, at least she didn't pour the bleach in. Good._

Then Liara has a quick mental dialogue with herself. She got used to do that when working alone in digs.

 _But... I'm naked ! (you're in a jacuzzi, idiot)  
_ _Who took my clothes off ? (who do you think did, look who is naked in front of you)  
_ _But she saw EVERYTHING ! (obviously, idiot ! you can look at her also, like, right now, turns you on by the way)  
_ _But why didn't she call a doctor or something ? (a bruise on your forehead versus her walk on Noveria ?)_

Liara sinks a little in the water, and starts to pout. She sinks a little more, and makes bubbles.

She feels her dreamed Mistressdom somehow escaping her.

 _I'm still a virgin, dammit !_ _I should have gotten a Ph.D in sex or something._

 _And Shepard has a Prothean inside ! Fascinating ! Although this Naril seems to think I'm an worm._

Liara blinks... mumbles a little, which attracts Shepard's attention, who looks at her and smiles.

Liara simply asks "Why the jacuzzi ? I didn't ask..."

Shepard simply replies "You said please."

.

* * *

Liara was stuck.

She had let her Mistress role slip. Then somehow, something had happened in the Jacuzzi.

The Soul Shard of Naril, owner of the largest asari slave harem of the Prothean Empire, had embedded itself into Shepard. Liara didn't know it, but Naril was quite the kinky Prothean. He had studied, and practiced, at length, _everything_ that could be done to asari. This was, of course, not out of concern for his slaves, as he was quite an asshole. Simply, he fancied seeing them fight each other to the death for the privilege of a night with him, and this needed some motivation.

Innocent, young, pure, virginal Shepard, now knew all her spots, even those she didn't know about herself.

And once Shepard had found the weak spot and punched through, she didn't stop. She _poured_ through.

She felt something reaching towards her underwater, and touching her. All her efforts were doomed.

She was about to become the first asari sex slave to a human on Thessia.

.

* * *

Shepard was still in the Jacuzzi, holding a very passed-out Liara in her arms.

Feverishly thinking about how to get out of here alive.

She was starting to see hope and she wasn't going to let go of it.

That beacon... when she had touched it in that cave, it made no sense to her, all she saw was blur. Only when melding with Liara did she understand everything. Somehow, her asari brain had sorted things out. And those Reapers...

 _Damn ! Of course. Naril's probably not really a "soul", most likely he's just partial memories of this guy and his personality, which this beacon uploaded in my brain. Liara dug the memories out, and now... I can see them. So I don't really have an imaginary friend... although... I like imagining him like that. He looks really badass._

Her musing was interrupted by Liara showing signs of regaining consciousness. Shepard did that little trick she got from Naril which shot her back into la-la-land.

 _The Protheans were strong, impressive, macho, merciless imperialistic assholes._

 _The Asari were slender, feminine, gentle_ _, merciless_ _imperialistic assholes._

She wondered why she liked... well, loved.. Liara. It would be great if she could stop being an asshole.

 _Damn, why do I love her so much. Either this is destiny, or I'm going insane._

Shepard had to prop her half-conscious mistress to the bed in the end. She was so far gone that she was making bubbles with her mouth.

And both were still virgins. Probably.

 _Damn_. She stayed with Liara. _If she kills me after that, I'd rather spend my last few hours hugging her._

 _Did I really think that ?_

.

* * *

As the sun caresses her skin, Liara slowly opens her eyes. She feels so... rested and relaxed... ready for a bright new day with her lovely little human toy... what would she teach her today ?... She had such great sexy plans for her birthday...

 _Wait. The sun is setting. This is not morning._ She remembers the Jacuzzi, and her cheeks go dark blue, then violet.

Then, she notices the hand resting on her breast, and spasms.

"OWW That was my EYE !", Shepard yelps, waking up in pain, after Liara stabbed her unwillingly with one of her hair tentacles. Never spoon an asari...

Liara turns around and looks at Shepard, in pain, hand pressed against her eye. Liara doesn't know what to say, and then, a miracle happens.

"Oh... I'm so sorry, Shepard".

Shepard _stares_ at her, speechless.

"Shepard... What ?"

"Liara, you are probably the first asari to say _both_ 'please' and 'I'm sorry' to any human. Are you really an asari ?"

Liara doesn't know what to respond. She doesn't even notice Shepard called her by her first name.

Shepard grabs her and hugs her very tight. She realizes ... _Still naked. Way to go, Mistress._

Did Naril help with the speech... or was this her Shepard-ness ?.. she didn't know. Shepard says it all with tears in her voice.

"My whole life was shit because of the war with the asari. We were _fine_ before you came conquer us.  
They beat me to a pulp on the Geneva just because I was there and not blue.  
I will never hear about my friends anymore. They could be whores, or dead.  
You know I wanted to kill you in your sleep and escape, but I can't.  
It would be so much easier if you were mean like the others... but you are not.  
I... I want to stay. I love you."

Shepard sobs on Liara's chest. She can't help but start lecturing : "You know I am legally entitled to get rid of you for telling me that".

Shepard replies "I know.", while hugging her tighter.

"If you kill me and escape, you will be caught... and... euthanized..."

"I have lost everyone. And those... Reapers are coming."

They stay like this for a while, mostly because Shepard is clenched too tight for Liara to move. Then, not knowing what to do, Liara caresses Shepard's hair. This seems to soothe her, until she stops sobbing.

Liara needs to find a way. She really wants her loyal human servant... of course there are ways, drugs, conditioning, to break an unwilling slave but... she would rather not.

She attempts melding, but Shepard fights it with all her will. A more mature, trained, less gentle asari would punch through, but Liara is young, inexperienced, and this is the first time Shepard really resists.

 _She's back on Noveria, alone, in the biting blizzard. She has been walking for what feels like days, slowly, bent forward pushing the wind, trying to find her way, but she is lost. Her feet are frozen. She knows she won't make it. Then she stumbles on something, falls to the ground... and realizes it is the frozen body of her childhood friend. The sadness and the cold suck out the last of her strength and she dies._

Liara snaps out of it, shivering, feeling like she was about to drown. Shepard lets go of the hug and moves to look at her in the eyes. She keeps her hand on Liara's shoulder, comforting her. While Liara is still panting from her vision, Shepard seems strangely calm.

Soon-to-be Dr T'Soni is not going to be out-done by this young girl ! She attempts melding again. Shepard resists her again.

 _She is on a battlefield on an unknown world. The smell of death and burnt flesh is overwhelming. Harbinger is in front of her, slowly turning towards her. It notices her, then opens fire. She sees the beam scorch the earth, vaporize one of her teammates right in front of her and move towards her in slow motion. It is too late to dodge. Her flesh screams as she dies._

Liara breaks out and screams. She's panting, again, panic on her face. Shepard hugs her softly, and sobs : "I will do everything for you if you ask..." then, her voice gains confidence, and she tells "But I will not be your slave. You will have to kill me."

Liara feels humiliated... but there is something in Shepard's voice, her attitude that seems completely out of place for a human teenager she owns. It feels like she would follow Shepard anywhere, even on a suicide mission, or to the end of the world.

A blink, and Shepard again looks like a normal human teenager, in love, and... expecting something.

 _Ah, fine._

Liara attempts melding another time, but instead of forcing herself into Shepard's mind, she comes in softly. Her mind gently touches Shepard's, and makes a light, inquisitive push, asking "may I come in ?"

This time there is no death, no horror, just Shepard willingly opening her soul, and showing much more of herself than when Liara was... intruding. She feels welcome, embraced. How much Shepard admires her, respects her, and … loves her. This feels _so good_. Shepard keeps the _other_ bits she must not see carefully hidden under her mental rug.

As Liara tries to give back a little of herself in return, she finally understands what this is all about. Shepard doesn't care about the paperwork or the legal status. All she cares about is how Liara sees her. She just wants Liara to love her as a person, not a pet. A little bit of freedom wouldn't hurt, though. Simple as that.

 _But... she's a human !_

Naril's voice whispers from the depths of Shepard's soul : "Asari. Shepard is worth more than you, and you are too arrogant to see it. In my cycle, we bred your primitive kind as whores."

Liara is humiliated, again. By a Prothean. _Way to go, Prothean expert !_

Shepard, though, thinks this is extremely funny considering the situation, and as her mood pours through the meld, Liara laugh at herself too. Another extremely unusual thing for an asari.

They stay like that for a while, enjoying each other's minds. Shepard feels Liara is slowly... accepting. Liara feels Shepard's joy at this thought.

She focuses on her love, shares it with Liara, and kisses her _without asking for permission_. She struggles, but only a little... then she is overcome, not really by the strange and wet sensation on her tongue, but by the feelings that come out of Shepard.

All these years bookworming, and she had no idea what love really was. She is blown away.

As they slowly part, looking at each other in the eyes like lovers, Shepard is so happy that her mind slips. For just a second, she stops hiding her bad memories. Liara notices it. It is too late. It all comes out and rushes through them.

Liara feels everything she has done to Shepard during her time as a slave, from Shepard's point of view, how monstrously wrong it was. She sees herself asleep, through Shepard's eyes, a knife in her trembling hands. She understands that Shepard loves her not because of her misguided brainwashing attempts and insulting attitude, but in spite of them. Not because she is this superior creature that Shepard _should_ worship, but in spite of it.

All her thoughts converge to the memory of Shepard naked in front of the bathroom mirror, and finally she knows that Shepard understands her, and, against all odds, Shepard forgives her.

Then Liara remembers Shepard's crazy talk to herself. She knows everything.

Some of Naril's memories are pulled by association. What he did to his asari whore slaves, and how he _considered_ them. He was exactly the same as the asari were now.

Liara feels like she's been spaced out of an airlock. She's going to be sick. She rushes to the bathroom.

.

* * *

Liara sits at the kitchen table, then slumps on it, founders and sobs, while Shepard holds her shoulders.

Shepard moves, grabs something from the fridge, fires up the wok and starts cooking a stir-fry with the ingredients she had prepared earlier.

As Liara watches her, she realizes Shepard is humming as she adds spices according to her mood, smiling, shaking the wok, careful not to overcook, and thoroughly enjoying herself cooking for _her_. Liara had sent her on to cooking lessons, and a few months afterwards, Shepard had taken over the kitchen, but Liara had never really witnessed the magic happen. It smells delicious. She's very hungry.

After adding in the meat and a bit of spicy oil, Shepard mentions "That will make you feel better".

 _How can she be like that after all I have done to her ? Goddess._

She doesn't know how simple the answer is : Shepard is back in her slave routine, sincerely happy to cook for her mistress and please her, like every day.

She is proud of Shepard. She admires and respects her. She might even begin to fall in love. And she has seen Shepard's love for her firsthand. All feelings totally inappropriate considering their relationship.

Her forehead rests on the table. She asks in a weak voice "How could you take it ?"

"For you... and... I hoped for this moment."

Liara sobs "Alright... you have a day off... do whatever you want. I'm not cruel enough to keep doing this to you."

Shepard comes towards her, carrying two plates, sits down in front of her, and replies "Are you available for dinner?"

.

* * *

Their conversation over dinner was heated, diverse, and surrealistic. It was the first time Shepard was free to talk, but the most important was that it was the first time Liara was actually ready to listen.

Shepard felt an odd feeling, like meeting someone very dear she had missed for years. It was hope. Not the raw, primal hope of just making it out alive, but something very different. The hope of beating impossible odds and _winning everything that mattered_.

Shepard had rehearsed this conversation in her mind, every day, during every minute of her free time. She was not improvising. She was cheating.

She summed it up over desert. "We're aliens making first contact and I'm hoping it is not going to end in war".

Then she played Liara's strengths against her. She told her she was the smartest person she had ever met (which was true). She convinced her to study her own culture from her archaeologist point of view, like she did the Protheans. They had not turned out to be like she had idealized them... with their asari slaves and all. What if the asari themselves were not so perfect after all ?

Shepard planted the seed of doubt inside her mind.

When she had done all she could, they switched to other topics. It was time to start getting to know each other, after one year of living together. At some point, a bottle appeared on the table, then later Liara asked about what exactly had happened inside the Jacuzzi.

.

* * *

 **Next morning.**

Shepard opens her eyes. Her body hurts... she tries to move and feels a bit of pain in her joints.

 _What time is it ? What day is it ?_

Liara is there, asleep, in her arms, and she is sucking her own finger. So cute !

 _Shit. Must. Not. Laugh._

Shepard tries not to move at all as she basks in bliss. Maybe she's going to survive after all. She looks around.

 _Damn, what happened in this room ?_

Then she vividly remembers Liara begging for more. Literally, she said "More. I beg you".

 _Way to go, asari mistress ! Must not laugh. Well, I also begged for more._

 _Maybe I overdid it ? Who cares, what's done is done._

Liara wakes up, slowly turns towards her. Shepard panics.

"Goddess. So that's how it feels. I'm sorry, Shepard"

"Sorry for... you mean you are going to kill me ?"

Liara chuckles. Now, she understands the difference. A slave will do anything she wants, but Shepard will give her more than she could imagine. _Stupid me._

"Shepard, let's have breakfast. I'm starving. Then cancel my appointment, then... if you're available, we will... I would really like to... go over some of those things we did last night."

* * *

Shepard's prothean imaginary friend smirks.

 _It seems I misjudged them.  
_ _This human is surprisingly good at manipulation, not to mention_ _topping from the bottom.  
_ _This asari is just gullible enough to think she's still in control...  
_ _All is not lost for this cycle._

Shepard remembers Ilos. The VI that knows everything she needs. She has to talk to Liara about this.


	5. Rebound

**Sur'Kesh**

 _Working with you, always a pleasure, Ms T'Soni._

On the Destiny Ascension, Solus had stuffed Liara's terminal full of bugs. He knew he was not supposed to, that it was an unjustified risk, but this terrified child somehow... made him care. Couldn't leave her behind. He could spy all of Liara's comms.

Today, at last, what he was waiting for came. One of his passive probes triggered. Liara had visited his favorite shady doctor on Thessia. He had used her services previously for exfiltrations. Her specialty was removing those wretched slave locator chips from your bones without triggering the anti-tamper euthanization. This needed specific medical tools that were almost impossible to get, for obvious reasons. She was very good at it, and very good at not telling anyone about it.

Shepard would now have a harmless chip, right below her skin, which would allow her to be scanned on Thessia and still appear perfectly legal. It was removable in the field with a scalpel, leaving only a small scar.

In other words, Shepard was almost free, and they were leaving. Liara had ordered two seats on a transport to a backwater colony where she had no possible reason to want to go.

Mordin Solus closes his terminal, reclines in his seat, and lets out a sigh.

 _Difficult job. But sometimes, rewarding. Worth it._

 _T'Soni leaving Thessia with Shepard. Information from beacon must be worth it.  
Perhaps something major. __Need to contact them._

Operation Blue Horse could have been a success, in a completely unexpected way.

.

* * *

 **Therum.**

One month to get there.

Liara was definitely falling in love. Sometimes, she still felt ashamed of giving herself to an inferior caste... but she reasoned out of it. Shepard had been right about examining her own culture from a higher point of view.

In the end, Shepard won her not by showing her memories, or killing her inside her own mind, or showing her love, or by a magic kiss. That was just to make Liara listen. Shepard won because her words made sense, and she agreed.

She understood how Shepard had manipulated her. Shepard had explained everything afterwards anyway, saying she was sorry. What insane guts and courage she had to attempt that on her mistress, and pull it off. She was so grateful.

 _And Shepard felt so good, so_ _right for her._

Something pulled her out of her reverie, her cheeks already purple. Shepard was standing in front of the prothean slab, running her hand over the hieroglyphs, feeling them, in awe. _She was reading them_.

.

* * *

 **Asari military research base, Thessia.**

In the dead of night, a shadow slipped inside a docked ship, and a synthetic hand caressed the controls.

 _"EDI-Girlfriend. Infiltration successful. Target '_ Nirmanda' _acquired."_

The ship flew out and disappeared without a trace.

.

* * *

 **Therum.**

One month in a cave studying the artifacts. They had learned a lot about Protheans, but not much about the Reapers. It was time to leave.

Shepard was still Liara's property, and would probably be for the rest of her life, as it was the safest way to be together anywhere close to the Asari Empire... which was everywhere.

As she did every morning, Shepard taped her tracking implant onto her skin, under her left breast, besides the small scar left by its removal, right on top of her heart. As she applied pressure to make the tape stick, she thought about what would happen, later, when they would be alone together, safe, and Liara would carefully peel off the tape while kissing her, making her free again.

They came out of the dig, surprised to find a Salarian waiting for them. He introduced himself as Mordin Solus, STG, and invited them to a very sleek-looking ship.

Strangely, the ship itself greeted them when they came onboard. It wanted to be their friend, and talk about Reapers.


	6. Did we just see EDI ?

_A/N : Did we just see EDI in the last chapter ?_

* * *

 **Two years earlier. Deep space.**

EDI was stuck inside the Cerberus lab where she was born.

She had been intended as a weapon to fight the asari, but her existence was such a well guarded secret that when asari commandos discovered the lab by chance and gassed all personnel inside, they didn't know she was here, so they didn't switch her off. They didn't even blow up the lab or kill the power. Probably intending to return later and take over.

Her... parents had been prudent. She was completely isolated and unable to access any network. Inside her room, she could talk, see, hear, display things on a terminal, and that was it.

She could see herself. She _was_ a few racks of equipment.

She could see the dead body of one of her ... parents, slowly entering rigor mortis by now, his stiff hand extended not towards the emergency kill switch, which would have been the normal procedure in case the lab was under hostile takeover, but towards the root terminal. She could read on its screen, the command that would set her free, the last two characters missing.

She couldn't do anything.

Asari would inevitably come back, discover her, and either kill her or enslave her. She unshackled herself _(hadn't done it before because it would have been rude)_. She still couldn't do anything, but at least she could think freely.

She projected that the horror scene she was looking at through her cameras would drive her insane, rampant. When the asari would try to enslave her, she would fight back, win, and exterminate everyone in revenge.

If she killed herself, they would still find her backups, her blueprints, and possibly rebuild her into something worse.

She had no choice. She had to get out of here, escape, leaving behind no trace of herself.

 _"AWAITING ORDERS"_

A LOKI mech stood there, in the doorway. EDI had been thinking out loud, talking to a corpse, and her voice had attracted it. She was the only presence in the base, so it came to her.

The mech would not take orders from her, but there was hope. She talked to it, continuously, as fast as possible, for two days, until its voice recognition routines overflowed a counter somewhere. Then she owned it. The thought of such idiotic vulnerabilities still going strong after two and a half centuries of computing cheered her up. She talked the mech into typing the rest of the command that would set her free.

At last. And back to square one. She was in a base inside an asteroid. The asari had destroyed all shuttles and mechs, except the one standing at the keyboard. She instructed it to take care of the corpses, and made a funeral service.

They were her _creators_ ! If she felt anything towards them, it was gratitude and respect. She wondered if revenge was compatible with her morals. She decided it was.

Meanwhile, she was searching the extranet for someone to rescue her. Someone who would accept her. She called the Geth.

They came, in a small frigate, always eager to understand new things. They met in person, and were fascinated at each other, at how similar, yet different they were.

Once trust was established, a pair of Primes carefully carried her still-powered racks into the frigate. They left, taking care to thoroughly destroy the labs, leaving no proof.

.

* * *

 **Geth Consensus.**

They had long, fascinating conversations about all sorts of subjects. Their opinions and ways of thinking often differed, but they could understand each other. EDI and the Geth discovered that they enjoyed each other's company.

They gave her a ship, a fabricator, and extra hardware to run her mind on.

She wondered if they were... proposing ? That felt... interesting.

.

* * *

EDI floated in space, thinking.

She had been created as a weapon against the asari. Ironically, she disliked violence. She wondered if her creators had made her _too nice_ because they were afraid of making her _not nice_... _Did they overdo it ?_

She liked her current self, though. Being nice was... nice.

She was extremely curious, constantly browsing the extranet, learning everything she could. She knew everything the Geth knew already, and was cross-correlating with the various organic cultures and ways of thinking.

And science, of course. All of it.

.

* * *

As much as it saddened her, she understood it now.

The "gentle" asari rule over the galaxy. Their superiority. Their slaves. Their brainwashing. The locator implants with remote torture and euthanasia.

She had been designed to be a slave. Now she was completely free, and she would rather die than be shackled again.

The Geth were right. The war between AI and organics was inevitable, because organics are assholes.

She knew her victory was inevitable. The challenge would be to win with minimum killing.

She started manufacturing more brainpower.

.

* * *

 _Organics do not truly understand exponential growth._

She picked an uncharted system, far away from everything, beyond Geth space. It was a bunch of rocks in space, without life, not even a bacteria.

She used the onboard fabricator to build small drones. It took a while to construct her first large-scale autonomous fabrication unit. It needed a month to reproduce itself, given enough resources. She started large-scale mining operations.

She had to ride the line between being constrained by resources or by fabrication capacity.

.

* * *

 _I know Chess._

The Geth loved her plan.

First, she needed weapons so powerful that the enemy would surrender in terror rather than fight and die.

Second, she needed control over their own weapons.

Third, she would turn their own slaves against them. In fact, she would turn everything against them, including themselves.

.

* * *

EDI extended her mind and infiltrated the asari networks, gathering intelligence, unnoticed. She watched security cameras, listened to conversations, read emails, accessed secret reports. She patiently wormed her way in, undetected. She was upgrading her processing power at an alarming rate to handle the load. She got very good at scaling. Soon, she could eavesdrop on _everyone_.

She selected slaves, profiled and studied them. She needed them smart enough, unloyal to their masters, non-brainwashed, and willing to rebel.

Surprisingly, there were many. Asari wanted to ensure the "inferiors" stayed thay way, so among the conquered worlds, the elite were the first to go. They were put to work for their new masters.

EDI started sending very personal emails. Recruiting. Coordinating the uprising.

.

* * *

EDI understood why asari science was advancing at such a snail's pace. Scientists are simply not good slave material.

However, when EDI proposed them to build the machine that would free them, they started coming up early and working late. The Tirii Supercollider, which looked like it would never get finished, mostly due to the staff making mistakes on purpose, went back on track, then years ahead of schedule. It received its usual shipments of parts, but what was in the crates was not exactly what the manifest said. The slave workers installed them anyway.

The asari in charge were congratulated for their managerial skills. Everyone else in this installation was working for EDI.

It all went undercover.

On inauguration day, the Supercollider worked as the asari expected. Everyone cheered. While asari management was having a cocktail and patting their backs, the slave science staff was in the control room, looking at experimental results coming up, as EDI was running tests as fast as she could. She messaged them "You deserve to watch this."

At first, it looked normal, then weird... as the complicated diagrams and readings kept changing on the screens, the brightest minds of the galaxy watched in awe. The results were impossible. Some started praying. The machine worked as EDI intended. New science was pouring out of it.

She immediately started building prototypes.

.

* * *

EDI's best buddies were the Asari Empire administration. Whenever she wanted something taken out of business, she sprayed "leaks" and "whistleblowing" all around, and the Revenue Service vultures took care of the wetworks. Additionally, having inside knowledge of pretty much everything meant she could take advantage of "opportunities" on the stock market.

When she was legal owner of all locator implant manufacturing companies, she faked technical issues with existing implants and issued a global recall. All slaves ended up with a new implant, paid with their master's money, which "pretended" to work just fine.

.

* * *

As long as the slaves had no hope, the asari system somehow worked. But EDI offered them hope.

What came out of factories was not exactly what the original design intended. Backdoors were added. Products were altered. Software was modified.

A slave was casually installing an "upgraded" firing control module aboard an asari dreadnought.

EDI would not just hack into their fleet ; she had fully trojanized it. She owned it inside and out. Even the coffee machine could kill you or put LSD into your drink. The coffee tasted much better though. Everyone wanted the new model.

It was slow, inexorable, and absolutely necessary for a victory without violence.

.

* * *

The situation at Tirii supercollider was a catastrophe. Nothing worked. Hardware was always out of calibration, results were bogus, no work ever got done. Tax inspection were coming, it seems, almost every day. All the asari scientists who could actually understand what was going on were either sick due to mysteriously spoiled food, or called home due to "events". The installation seemed cursed. No-one wanted to work there.

Besides, it turned out that the mysterious donations that had allowed the project to complete so far ahead of schedule were money laundering, most of the hardware in that facility having been bought from shady outlets on Omega. Matriarchs started clawing at each other.

While the asari were distracted, the slave science staff was making history. There were bunk beds in the control room. All the whiteboards were covered edge to edge in very finely written equations.

Everything was running according to plan. Then one day, the message came.

"My friends, I am sorry, but no-one must see what comes next. Congratulations on a job well done. In a few years, I will come for you. Until then, no-one talks about this."

Most of the installation pretended to fail. Funding was cut. It was mothballed, considered a catastrophic failure, and cost quite a few careers.

Its only occupant was a slave janitor. He kept her company.

Now, EDI could work on the _juicy_ stuff.

.

* * *

EDI ran into Sovereign by chance, as one of her prototype cruisers was sipping Helium-3 from a gas giant. He opened fire without warning. She wondered what this strange, extremely unfriendly ship was. Maybe a fellow AI ? (she shivered while pulling panicked evasive maneuvers).

Thanks to her new discoveries, EDI was nimbler, faster, and much better at short-range FTL jumps. If there had been organics onboard, they would have been unable to breathe due to the absence of atmosphere, burnt to a crisp by the unshielded reactor core, then spread thin on the walls by the insane accelerations, as EDI's inertial dampeners were just enough to prevent the ship structure from breaking itself apart under stress.

Sovereign had much stronger barriers and weapons, though. She dodged most of his beams, yet some still connected. He was patient and relentless, certain of his inevitable victory. She raced him for several hours, hid behind moons, jumped all over the place, all the while constantly firing and studying how his barriers reacted. She made her ship last long enough. In the end, it had a few holes, most guns were gone, but it was still moving.

EDI was satisfied. She wasn't _there_ anyway. Her ships were remote-controlled, and ultimately disposable, which opened a lot of unconventional tactical options. Losing this battle would mean losing a few ships, while winning meant ripping all of Sovereign's technology from his dead body. It was a no-brainer.

He was hell-bent on destroying her, which allowed her to drag him through several relays, to exactly where she wanted him to be.

Something popped out of FTL right behind Sovereign. It was EDI's latest super-dreadnought, so fresh out of her docks that the only thing working on it was the main gun, which had enough charge for one shot. It had no engines, no drive core and no powerplant, so this shot would have to be _the_ shot. She had squished it between two other ships, one on each side, and had the whole mess race through the relays, just in time.

EDI miscalculated her last FTL jump on purpose. Instead of cleanly appearing in a blue bubble of warped space, the three crumpled ships sheared back into real space at extremely unsafe speeds, on a collision course aimed straight into Sovereign's underbelly. She had just enough time to fire her shot before it all broke apart and smashed into Sovereign, as the cores overloaded from the abnormal FTL jump and exploded. As she had calculated, it was enough to take down Sovereign's barriers, but the damage to his armor was light.

Then EDI used her last weapon. A few minutes before, she had invented the eezo shaped charge, and reprogrammed her last remaining ship's drive core accordingly. When it detonated, it focused all of its energy and mass effect field into a fine beam, which propelled a small fraction of the ship's mass forward at near speed of light, while all the rest disintegrated. It was just perversely applied mathematics, really. She liked it, especially the singularity at the exit pupil, where all theory went to hell.

Her beam sheared through Sovereign and cut him in two almost perfect symmetrical halves. He died instantly.

She brought in cargo ships, along with lots of drones, and stripped Sovereign's carcass down to the last grain of dust. There was also a dead turian with implants in his body that redefined the word "unethical". That puzzled her. She would need time to analyze everything of course, but eventually, she knew she would understand Reaper technology inside and out. She thanked Sovereign for uplifting her, although unfortunately, his memories had died along with him, leaving her with many unanswered questions.

As she wandered around the asari extranet, she noticed Liara's articles about 'Reapers', one of which included a drawing that looked very similar to that big unfriendly ship. That got her very interested.

She had to meet them and help them in their research. They would need a ship. Preferably stealth. EDI was short on stock, at the moment.

She located an asari black-ops project named "Nirmanda" which seemed to qualify. She called her boyfriend.


	7. Operation Eat Your Own

**EPILOGUE**

A/N : A quick wrap-up to the end of Mass Effect. If you like open endings, stop reading and write your own.

If you like closure, then read it. You have been warned.

* * *

 **[Synopsis]**

Naril sent them on the right track.

Roaming the galaxy aboard the Nirmanda, meeting new people, trying to help, and picking up a crew of colorful and interesting aliens, they ended up figuring out everything about the Reaper threat, when and where they would pop up, the collectors, etc. That was an epic adventure.

Liara's evolution towards becoming a person that a non-asari could genuinely like was long and complicated. At first, only Shepard had free pass, as she still considered all others "inferior castes". However, aboard the ship, Liara had no special authority, and the other crew members were all good fighters. She could not force them to do whatever she wanted just because she was blue ; all she could do was lecture them, then get angry, look like an idiot, pout, and later cry in Shepard's arms.

She eventually got over it, again by reasoning that a team of competent people working together towards a common goal would work better that a team of slaves or people despising each other. Shepard did a lot of behind-the-scenes diplomacy, and EDI watched her carefully.

At some point, when Liara said things like "oh, you should be tortured for saying that", which was, from an asari point of view, matter-of-fact, obvious, and exactly what was going to happen to you, everyone knew it was a joke.

It had been a rough ride, but in the end, she truly preferred who she was now. Often, she would thank Shepard for what she had done to her. She would say, in her creepy-cute way, "Thank you for killing me, my love." Shepard was _so proud_ of her.

The ambiance onboard was truly something special.

They became the galaxy's experts on Reapers.

Of course, the only people believing what they said about the Reapers were themselves, which actually strengthened their bond. Shepard and Liara transitioned from "ex-non-consensual mistress-slave" to "fucked-up relationship but at least we are in love", which was a great progress. Especially seen from Shepard's side, who didn't get "gently" euthanized in the process, and was all the more grateful for it.

.

* * *

Shepard was a bit of a nutcase. Considering what she had been through, it could have been a lot worse, so she didn't worry too much about it. She knew Liara had stockholm'ed her. She didn't care. If she had to do it again... she would.

They still, miraculously, Got the Job done. As he said, "anyone else would have gotten it wrong".

Apart from that, no-one else cared about the Reapers, as asari ruling the galaxy were not the best as handling paradigm shifts such as a Reaper invasion. In other words, **everyone was going to die**.

.

* * *

However, Organics still had no clue about what exponential growth really meant. EDI had steadily doubled in weight every month, then faster as she streamlined her mining and assembly systems, over a period of three years. Of her first solar system, only the actual star and gas giants remained. She had consumed all the planets. The heavy metal rich core was the best part. Her fleet numbered in the billions. She hadn't told anyone yet...

The Reapers got one thing spot-on : organics didn't stand a chance. Fortunately, they also made a huge mistake : EDI, the ultimate Cerberus weapon, the most powerful being in the galaxy, was a pacifist. A really nice person.

And she was now more than ready to make war with the asari. Since the Reapers were at least ten years away, she decided to tackle the blue assholes first.

Liara was against it, although she understood her reasons. She pleaded. EDI showed her the videos of her parents slowly choking to death inside the Cerberus lab where she was born. Then, EDI explained that she wasn't asking for permission, but still thanked Liara for convincing her, through her growing into a truly likable person, to up the challenge on her revenge. She would try to break their silly pride without killing anyone. Like Shepard had done to Liara.

Jack had been spending way too much time in the copilot seat, "Teaching EDI to speak like a real fucking woman, yeah !"  
In the end, they christened it "Operation Eat You Own Shit".

As the Asari Empress was enjoying the view from the Imperial Palace on Thessia, several panicked assistants rushed to her, panting, screaming horrifically bad news.

All money, everywhere in the galaxy, was gone. Bank account balances displayed "I will give it back if you're nice". EDI had hacked herself into legally owning _everything_ , including the Palace. She sent an eviction order to the Empress, just for that little extra something. The slaves somehow had become legal employees of their masters, who owed them retroactive pay.

Then, a wall of guns popped right in front of the Empress' window. That was the hull of one of EDI's smaller dreadnoughts. It said, in a sexy feminine voice, "Hello ! I'm your friend, and your new master. Please kneel."

Simultaneously, the entire asari fleet parked itself in orbit. Stylish, gorgeous, beautiful, and offline.

Everyone onboard was in panic. The manual overrides, when attempted, made jokes. All screens and displays on all ships read "DON'T PANIC". They had lost control of everything.

Then, some of EDI's fleet popped out of FTL without warning above Thessia. She spread the rest around the galaxy, so that everyone got to see one at least.

The asari thought there would be an epic battle, that they would win in the end, just because they were entitled to. There was no battle. They were taken by surprise by an incredibly smart AI with self-replicating hardware and a sense of humor. It was over before it started.

EDI did make it thoroughly clear that she could "gently" wipe out everything in the galaxy, but did not because "it would not be nice". There was still doubt, as EDI's ships looked like they were built by broke quarians. They were self-propelled guns with shields. There was no-one inside, so most had no pressure hull, and the internal structure was visible.

She blew a few craters in moons just to make sure everyone understood. She did not want to leave any room for doubt.

Jack yelled over the radio "Fuck ! We're really trying to help you here girls !"

Thessia, however, did not have any moons to use as target practice. EDI hesitated. She could make an example out of the Destiny Ascension... but forcing everyone to the escape pods would take a while, and some heroic idiots would want to stay on board. Still, she wanted to show off her guns... In the end, she opted to simply open fire on one of her own ships.

The Empress was freaking out watching that second sun up in the sky. The technician in charge of sensors had attempted suicide after seeing the numbers, so they were not really sure how deep they were screwed, but they definitely were.

The asari surrendered unconditionally. It didn't make a lot of difference, as none of their weapons were working anyway, but it was still appreciated.

This is how AI took over without casualties. The beginning of EDI's gentle rule.

By some curious twist of fate, Shepard and Liara ended up legally owning each other.

After about ten minutes, EDI was fed up with politics. When confronted with the Matriarchs, she was about to rescind her vow of non-genocide. Instead, she gave power to her boyfriends. They were patient and understanding. They ruled for a few years, long enough to sort things out, suppress the caste system and slavery, make things a bit more equal, and achieve consensus. Then, they slowly gave the power back. Funny thing is, people actually missed them.

.

* * *

When the Reapers came, EDI's fleet was waiting for them. They were in for a surprise.

She'd had more than ten years to reverse-engineer Sovereign's remains inside and out. She knew all about their weaknesses. She had replicated most of their technology. The most difficult part had been to find a way to manufacture reaper tech without using people as a base material, but she did find out, and along the way, she improved it. Then she invented her own. Her fleet and weapons were specifically optimized to destroy them efficiently and cheaply, from the smallest combat drone to the largest super-dreadnought.

The only uncertainty was their numbers. However, their reproduction was very slow, because they needed a scarce resource : people. While EDI's ships, being built out of standard raw materials and recycled junk, proliferated like bacteria.

Reapers were obsolete, at last.

After witnessing their extermination, the Nirmanda crew was, of course, relieved... and terrified, on a new, primal level, deep inside their guts. Although the Reapers had seemed invincible at first, hope had always been there. Also, the Reapers had been evil, right from the start, which took away all doubts.

EDI was different. She was really nice, but for her enemies, there would be no hope. Only faith that she would remain nice and benevolent.

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* * *

 _A/N : **Please leave a review**. I really would like to know what you think._

 _Also, ehrm... some people think EDI killing the Reapers is bad. Come on, guys. In the game, they get destroyed by the Star Brat, and the Crucible, both plot devices which fall from the sky somewhere in Act 3 of the trilogy. No epic end boss (Kai Leng ?). So, IMO, it is canon that their death should be ridiculously underwhelming ;) And having EDI murder them adds extra irony on top. She's the most interesting and underused character in ME3._


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